


A Side and His Snakes

by SML8180



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, He Just Chooses Not to More Often, How Do I Tag, Innuendo, Janus Has a Slight Lisp, Janus Likes Physical Contact, Logic | Logan Sanders Has Feelings, Logic | Logan Sanders is Bad at Feelings, Other, Polyamory, Remus can be chill, Snake Owner Deceit | Janus Sanders, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit | Janus Sanders, courtesy of Remus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 05:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30100707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SML8180/pseuds/SML8180
Summary: Janus resembles a snake, and though it may be predictable, he adores the creatures he resembles. He also loves Remus. They both love Logan.Janus has five snakes in his life; three pet snakes, Remus, and Logan.
Relationships: Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	A Side and His Snakes

Janus resembled a snake, there was no denying that fact. That was how Thomas had subconsciously envisioned him, influenced by his upbringing. Sometimes Janus found himself wondering if he would have his current aesthetic if Thomas had grown up differently.

Would he look different? Would he speak differently? Would he still have the same villain-esque fashion sense?

Would he still adore snakes?

Call him predictable, but Janus did love snakes. He was fascinated by them, really. He’d been interested in them since Thomas was just a child, and he spotted a small garter snake in the backyard. Thomas’ conscious interest in snakes fizzled out, though even as an adult he found them interesting, but Janus’ love had only grown over the years. He could fondly remember the times he spent with Remus and Virgil talking about their favorite animals; spiders, snakes, octopuses, and the like. Even after Virgil was accepted and no longer spent time in the Dark portion of the Mindscape, he still had Remus to talk with.

After he and Remus were accepted, and their doors appeared in the same hall as all the others, Remus had threatened to break all Janus’ bones if he ever told anyone just how gentle he could be. Janus had agreed, of course. Nobody  _ needed _ to know how gentle and sweet the Duke could be when handling an animal.

* * *

It was a fairly quiet day in the Mindscape, and most of the Sides didn’t have much to do. Janus had spent a good part of the morning in the library with Logan, engaged in a game of chess. Out of all the Sides, he found that he most enjoyed spending time with Logan; the other man just seemed to understand him in a way most of the others didn’t. The only one who came close was Remus, and part of that had been simply because the two of them had spent so much time together over the years, it would have been  _ impossible _ for Remus to not understand the Deceitful Side.

After their chess game had wrapped up, Janus had lunch with Logan and the other Sides. Patton had made sandwiches for them to enjoy, and there had been mostly pleasant chatter among them. Virgil and Roman were still wary of Janus and Remus, though Janus really couldn’t blame them. After lunch was finished, and Patton had politely declined Janus’ offer to help with dishes, Janus decided to spend some time in his room.

Like the other Sides’ rooms, Janus’ room was arranged in such a way as to suit his needs and desires. Janus’ room was likely the warmest room in the Mindscape, which drew a sigh from him as he entered. He hung his hat on one of the three hooks by the door, and his capelet was hung on the second hook, while his coat-like overshirt took up the third hook in the set. Janus took off his shoes and set them by the door, and removed his gloves, setting them on the small shelf that was fixed to the wall above the three hooks. He was left in his long-sleeved black undershirt and black slacks, until he snapped his fingers.

Following the Side’s snap, he was dressed in something a bit less formal, though you certainly couldn’t call his clothes pajamas. He stood barefoot, wearing a set of fitted black jeans -they weren’t skinny jeans, like Virgil often wore, though they weren’t the straight-leg cut Logan usually preferred, these were right in the middle-, and a yellow T-shirt that was admittedly a bit big on him, though he really didn’t mind as he tucked in the front of the shirt.

Janus knew the other Sides believed he was cold-blooded, like a snake would be, and if this were earlier in his life, when he’d been far more snake-like, they would have been correct. Now, though, he was more human, and did produce  _ some _ body heat, though it wasn’t nearly enough to keep himself properly warm and comfortable. That was why he liked to be in his room; it was warmer than the rest of the Mindscape, and he could get away with walking around barefoot in short sleeves.

Now that he was in something more comfortable, Janus made his way into the main portion of his room. Over the years, Janus had experimented with various layouts for his room, and settled on a sort of split-level design. He had his main “bedroom” area on the upper level, which was roughly one quarter of the room. The lower level had his bathroom -which was directly under the elevated area that held his bed-, a walk-in closet, a lounge area, and the area where Janus was heading to, now.

The spot Janus was in wasn’t immediately visible from the doorway, and held three decently sized terrariums. Each of the terrariums held a snake, and those creatures were Janus’ pride and joy. Remus had conjured them up for him, and though they were very much like the real thing, there were a couple of major differences; Janus’ snakes didn’t have the same heat and humidity requirements, which meant that the environment of his room was just fine for them, and they loved to be held.

Two of the snakes seemed to be resting in their hiding spots, as Janus couldn’t spot them, though one was slithering around in the terrarium, and lifted his head to look at Janus when he approached. Janus unhooked the latch on the front of the enclosure and slid the door open, carefully reaching his right hand inside. The snake slithered over and coiled itself around Janus’ forearm, and he carefully pulled his hand out of the terrarium, shutting the door with his free hand. The snake’s tongue flicked out, as he looked around and adjusted his body on Janus’ arm. After just a couple of minutes, there was a knock at Janus’ door, before he heard it open and shut. He knew exactly who it was just from that fact alone.

“I’m with the snakes, Remus,” he informed the other Side, not bothering to move from where he stood as the snake on his arm coiled around him.

Remus came into the area and wrapped his arms around Janus’ waist, resting his head on the other Side’s shoulder. “Hey there, buddy,” he cooed, carefully petting the snake’s head. It still amazed Janus just how gentle Remus could be. The man could be loud and inappropriate, and that was usually the side of himself he let others see, but it was at least partially because he didn’t want others to think of him as just a discount version of Roman. Remus was just as capable of being sweet and quiet and gentle, though he mostly reserved that for Janus and Virgil when they were alone.

“Monty and Ginger are hiding,” Janus told Remus, leaning his head against the Duke’s.

“They’ll probably wanna come out later,” Remus mused. Janus simply nodded.

Janus and Remus moved over to the loveseat and sat down together. They relaxed for a while until there was a knock at the door. Janus stood, with his snake climbing his arm and into his sleeve. When he opened the door, Janus found Logan standing in the hall.

“Hello, Logan,” Janus greeted, opening the door a tad more.

“Hello, Janus,” Logan replied. “I located that book you were asking me about,  _ Cinder _ , correct?”

“Yes, Remus suggested I branch out in my reading, and recommended it,” Janus told him.

Logan held the book out to the other Side. “I do not recall ever seeing you in short sleeves,” he observed.

“The rest of the Mindscape is too cold for me to go without long sleeves,” Janus shrugged, before letting out a quiet laugh as he took the book from Logan.

“Is something humorous?”

“What’re you doing, you ssssilly, silly snake?” Janus chuckled, turning his head as a snake’s head popped out of the neck hole in his shirt.

“You have a pet snake?”

“He’s got three!” Remus called from further in the room.

“Is that Remus?”

“You ask a lot of questions with really obvious answers, Nerdy Wolverine.”

“Yesss, Remus is here,” Janus told him. “Would you like to come meet the snakes?”

“I believe I would enjoy that,” Logan nodded.

Janus stepped aside, letting the Logical Side into the room. “Take your shoes off, please.”

Logan nodded, slipping his feet out of his slippers and setting them out of the way. He followed Janus towards an area just out of view of the door, and saw the three terrariums set up.

“This little troublemaker is Dimitri,” Janus introduced, indicating the snake that was curiously flicking his tongue near his scales. “He’s an Albino Ball Python.”

“He is a very handsome snake,” Logan mused.

“Thank you,” Janus smiled. “This one is Monty, he’s a Butter Ball Python,” he told Logan, stepping closer to the terrarium on the far right. The caramel and yellow colored snake was curiously looking through the glass at the stranger in the room.

“And the one in the middle’s Ginger,” Remus chimed in, walking up behind the other two Sides. “She’s an Amelanistic Corn Snake.”

“Amelanistic?” Logan inquired, stepping a bit closer to the middle terrarium.

“She doesn’t exhibit dark coloration, but she isn’t quite albino,” Janus explained. “As such, she exhibits red and white coloring. They’re sometimes referred to as  _ red albinos _ .”

“That is fascinating,” Logan breathed.

“They’re Jan’s babies,” Remus chuckled. “He’d die for his snakes.”

Logan watched as the snake on Janus’ shoulder, Dimitri, slithered down the man’s arm and wrapped himself around his left forearm and wrist. Janus offered his hand to Remus, who happily gasped and stepped closer, moving far more slowly than Logan would have expected. After a moment, Dimitri began to slither onto Remus’ arm, and Logan couldn’t help but notice that Remus wasn’t wearing his usual clothes, either. Instead, the man was in his usual pants, barefoot, and wearing a black T-shirt with a green sash printed on it. As Dimitri settled on Remus’ arm, he seemed more calm than Logan had ever seen him.

“Would you like to hold Monty, Logan?” Janus offered.

“I would not want to cause any harm,” Logan responded.

“If I can do it, you can do it, Pocket Protector,” Remus laughed.

“Monty is the most docile of the three,” Janus told him. “He usually doesn’t mind strangers, as long as you provide pets to the head.”

“I suppose I could try,” Logan agreed.

Janus smiled a bit and unlatched the door on Monty’s enclosure. The snake backed off a bit as he opened the door, and seemed to be patiently waiting for Janus to take him out. “Here,” he offered, taking Logan’s hand in his own.

Logan allowed Janus to guide his right hand into the terrarium, and hold it there. After a moment, Monty began to slither up onto his arm. Logan was staring at the snake, fascinated, while his mind was also racing. Janus had never touched him without his gloves on. The gloves were made of a fairly soft material, though he’d wondered what Janus’ hands would feel like. The Deceitful Side’s left hand, the one guiding his own, was covered in smooth scales, just like the left half of his face, though it was warmer to the touch than he’d expected, and his touch was gentle, as if he were handling a fragile artifact that would break if he were too rough with it.

“Just let him settle on his own,” Janus instructed. “He’ll wrap around your arm and wrist, and find a comfortable position to settle in. Monty isn’t as much of a troublemaker as Dimitri, so he’ll probably just stay right on your arm, at most, he’ll find his way to your neck and just drape himself there. If he does that, don’t worry, he’s intelligent and very well behaved, so he won’t try to constrict around your neck.”

“That’s why you’re holding Monty and not Ginger,” Remus chimed in. “Ginger doesn’t like strangers holding her, and she’s wrapped around my neck before. It was kinda hot.”

“Remus, do  _ not _ talk about my babies like that,” Janus groaned.

“I see,” Logan acknowledged, watching as Monty settled on his forearm, and carefully moved to pet the snake on the head with his finger.

“Ginger is still warming up to even Remus, currently she only really likes me handling her,” Janus told him, opening up the third terrarium.

Logan and Remus watched as Janus let Ginger climb up his arm. She was longer than Monty and Dimitri, and coiled herself around Janus’ arm, with her head near his shoulder. The three Sides made their way over to the lounge area and settled down.

Logan watched as Janus settled against Remus’ side, and the pair seemed to melt against one another. Remus seemed to notice, and gave a short laugh.

“Like what you see, Teach?” the mustached Side questioned.

“I do not understand what you mean,” Logan quickly answered. He hoped he wasn’t blushing after being caught staring.

“Lies,” Janus drawled.

“I didn’t- I am not lying.”

“Once again, a lie.”

“He’s literally a living lie detector, genius, he can keep this up all day,” Remus laughed. “And that’s not the  _ only _ thing he can keep up all day,” he added, smirking and suggestively raising his eyebrows.

“I suppose, it is nice to see that you two get along so well,” Logan shrugged.

“Getting closer to the truth, but still not quite there,” Janus mused.

“Just spit it out, Brainiac,” Remus prompted.

“I… Well um… I suppose, well…” the Logical Side stammered. He knew he was blushing, now, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks. He nervously pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, turning his focus to Monty.

“You want to join the cuddles, don’t you?” Janus suggested, looking towards the blushing Side. Logan’s blush deepened as he shyly nodded. “Alright, then. But, the snakes need to go away for that. I don’t want Ginger causing trouble, and Dimitri’s been out for a while.”

The trio got up and made their way over to the terrariums, and Janus put away Ginger, letting her slither off his arm. Remus put away Dimitri, and then moved to help Logan get Monty back in his enclosure.

“Let him go at his own pace,” Remus instructed. “Just reach your hand inside, and he’ll slither off on his own,” he told Logan, guiding the other Side’s hand into the terrarium and holding it there as Monty slowly realized that he was going back into his enclosure.

Logan silently noted that Remus was surprisingly gentle. His fingertips weren’t as soft as Janus’ were, instead, they were a bit calloused, but his touch was still shockingly careful. He watched as Monty slithered away to hide, and Remus let go of his hand, sliding the glass door shut and latching it. Logan couldn’t help but notice how the feeling of Remus’ touch seemed to linger on his skin.

Janus led Remus and Logan back over to the loveseat, and didn’t even have to say a word for Remus to use his abilities to expand the seat to fit the three of them. As the trio approached, Janus spoke up, clearly addressing Logan. “You don’t need to be in the middle, if you don’t want to,” he told the Logical Side.

“I appreciate that,” Logan replied.

Janus simply nodded, and chuckled quietly as Remus took a seat, situating himself and making grabby-hands towards him. With a loving roll of his eyes, Janus settled himself against Remus, smiling a bit as the Creative Side wrapped his arms around his torso. He motioned for Logan to come join them, and smiled calmly as Logan approached, settling himself against Janus, who wrapped his arms around his shoulders. Logan practically melted into Janus’ touch, the tension leaving his shoulders as he let his head rest back against the Deceitful Side’s chest.

None of them said anything for quite some time. Janus had a TV mounted to the wall across from them, and Remus turned it on, pulling up some random documentary for them all to watch. At some point, Janus began to rub Logan’s shoulders, drawing a quiet groan from the other Side.

“Your shoulders are so  _ tense _ , what have you been doing?” Janus quietly asked him.

“I have been revising Thomas’ schedule, assisting him with editing work, rearranging a few things in the Long Term Memory, helping Roman pull together ideas, attempting to reign in Patton, among other things,” Logan rattled off. He let out a bit of a gasp when Janus’ right thumb pressed against a particularly tough knot in his shoulder.

“You need to take care of yourself,” Janus mused. “If you keep this up, you’ll run yourself into the ground.”

Logan hummed in acknowledgment, shutting his eyes as Janus worked the stiffness from his shoulders. He had to admit that whatever Janus was doing felt  _ good _ , even if some spots hurt for a few moments. Janus clearly knew what he was doing, and after a while, Logan’s shoulders felt better than they had in months. He let out a surprised gasp when he felt Janus’ arms slip under his arms and around his chest, and he was pulled up a bit, closer to Janus.

“This is nice,” Remus hummed, sounding calm and content.

“Yes, it is,” Logan agreed.

“We were going to go to dinner in the Imagination tonight,” Janus mused. “Remus knows a place.”

“I hope you two have a nice time, then,” Logan responded.

“You could come with us.”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“We’re asking you out on a  _ date _ , Dork,” Remus told him. “We  _ want _ you to come. If you wanna.”

Logan felt Janus chuckle, the soft vibration lightly rumbling against his back. He hardly thought the idea over before nodding. “That sounds acceptable,” he stated.

“Then it’s a date,” Janus smiled. “We have reservations for six-thirty. Meet us at the door to the Imagination.”

“You can expect me to be right on time,” Logan told him.

Janus hummed in approval, and the three Sides fell into a comfortable silence. Eventually, Logan had to leave, though he confirmed that he would meet up with them that night for their date, and left Janus and Remus in the room, still cuddled up to one another on the loveseat. He could tell that Remus had fallen asleep, going by the quiet, steady breaths he felt against his hair, and the way the man held him like a teddy bear. Janus didn’t mind, though, and he simply settled in once more, watching whatever was on the TV, and silently thanking Remus yet again for his pet snakes, which had served as the catalyst for what he felt was going to be a wonderful relationship.


End file.
